Mayor Bill Peduto Responds to Pittsburghers' Transportation Questions

From potholes, to public transit, to bike lanes, the possibilities of transportation reforms in Pittsburgh are endless.

As part of a monthly conversation with Essential Pittsburgh, Mayor Bill Peduto explained his vision for better transportation and who he's working with to make those plans possible.

“I told (Allegheny County Executive) Rich (Fitzgerald) this, ‘You know, you want people to build a statue for you, you take care of three things. You create a green way to address the combined sewer overflow problem that puts Pittsburgh on the map as being innovative, you make our airport a hub once again for flights throughout the country and internationally, and you build out a light rail system that goes north, south, east, and west with a feeder system of busses that creates a world class light rail system.’”

Many local Pittsburgh residents weighed in and told us their vision for Pittsburgh transportation, and Peduto responded.

“Without a local match, and you can’t say, ‘Well just use the taxes we have,’" he said. "That’s not an option, what you need is a dedicated fiduciary account, an amount of money that is raised and used specifically for one purpose.”

@esspgh@billpeduto@905wesa Add a bike lane in the busways from downtown out to the new station at E Liberty. quicker commute & safer

“I agree 100 percent, and design is a component of making things safe. If you don’t use the design at the beginning it just doesn’t work," Peduto said "The bike lane on the busway is one of the areas we’re looking at with this. But you have to understand that once you get past Neville Street there is no room for a bike lane. I know everyone keeps saying, ‘You’ve got to take it all the way to East Liberty!’ But literally, ride on a bus and look, there is not space, there is no lane. You have a wall on one side and then nothing, not even a curb spot, on the other.”